Study of Fabrication and Properties of NiCoP Nanocrystalline Thin Film Electrodes for Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalysts

Hydrogen production from water splitting is considered the most environment-friendly and sustainable method to acquire energy. Alkaline water electrolysis has been widely employed for hydrogen production, but it is still challenging to prepare non-precious metals electrocatalysts to replace the noble-metal-based catalysts. Here we proposed electroless method to prepare a NiCoP nanocrystalline thin flim as efficient electrocatalysts. The morphology and mechanisms of the 45-minute alloy films deposited on Cu substrate were characterized by SEM, XRD, and XPS techniques, moreover, LSV, EIS, and CP were applied to analyze the electrochemical behavior. The nanocrystalline NiCoP45min alloy exhibits higher hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity than platinum sheet. An overpotential of -98 mV and a Tafel slope of 47.94 mV<middle dot>dec-1 at 10 mA<middle dot>cm-2 was achieved with the catalyst during HER in an alkaline medium. Additionally, its excellent catalytic activity is confirmed by a low Rt value 2.48 ohm. Remarkably, this catalyst also exhibits high HER stability for about 45 h in an alkaline electrolysic solution.